Stained Glass Poppy Votive Tutorial

How to make a stained glass poppy votive

Here's a fun little project that would make a lovely teacher or hostess gift for the holidays.


SUPPLIES:

• glass jar (recycled or purchased)
• modge podge--gloss finish
• scissors
• paint brush (1/2 inch flat brush or similar)
• tissue paper in red, orange, light blue, navy blue, 3 shades of green (lighter is better)
• small candle

1. Using red tissue paper, cut out approximately a dozen small ovals about 1.5 inches or so in diameter and several elongated triangles as pictured. These will be the poppy flowers and buds. Using the paint brush, brush a thin layer of Modge Podge on the glass--it will go on white and dry clear. Lay down one of the ovals and paint over the tissue with the Modge Podge. Make sure to completely cover the tissue paper, going over the edges and smoothing out any bumps in the tissue and any globs of Modge Podge. Arrange the poppy flowers and buds going around the glass about half way up. Some can be a bit higher, some lower. Vary the arrangement--some flowers can overlap a bit, etc.

 2. Using the light blue tissue paper, rip it into small pieces, roughly an inch or so in size. Going around the glass, using the same technique start laying in the sky. Make sure to completely cover the top of the glass all the way up to the rim, overlapping blue over blue as you go. Carefully cover the spaces around the poppy flowers with blue going about half way down the glass.

 3. Using the 2 lightest shades of green tissue paper, rip it into small pieces as you did with the blue. Cover the bottom half of the glass, going in and around the poppy flowers making sure to go all the way to the bottom of the glass making sure there are no clear spaces left.

 4. Using the dark shade of green (or two if you have them) cut up long, skinny stems. Going around the glass, place a stem for every poppy flower and bud, making sure stem goes all the way to the bottom of the glass. Curve the stems or cross one over the other.

 5. Using red and orange tissue papers, rip up some small pieces. Going around the glass, add some extra layers to some of the poppies and buds with red and orange. Think of it as painting with tissue paper--these layers will add extra dimension and shading when the light shines through.

6. Using the navy blue tissue, rip up some tiny oval center shapes and place one on each poppy.

7. Go over the entire glass, smoothing out any globs of Modge Podge and painting down any bits of tissue what aren't smooth. Make sure you have covered the entire glass with color.

8. Let it dry and you are ready to place a small candle inside.

Grand Harbor Light seascape--progression

My painting progression posts seem to be a hit with folks so I am going to post more of them this year. I've created a "progression" label--see the sidebar on the right--so you can look up past paintings I have posted about.

I recently finished a commission for a seascape of Grand Harbor lighthouse in Michigan. The painting presented a compositional challenge in that the the canvas was very long and narrow (20 x 60 inches) and I had to figure out how to incorporate the buildings in a visually compelling manner.

step 1: base coat of cadmium orange and basic composition sketched in with charcoal

step 2: underpainting (a mixture of ultramarine blue and cadmium orange) of basic shapes and darkest values

step 3: laying in the sky--I added a lot of drama and diagonal lines to add visual interest

step 4: adding more color to sky

step 5: I opted for a choppy surf for more visual interest

step 6: I must have gotten lost in right brain mode because I forgot to photograph a few steps ;-)  The sky is mostly completed with a slightly setting sun and lots of dramatic clouds, choppy surf and architectural features laid down.

final piece ready to send off to clients!

How to make origami holiday lights

Continuing in my how-to theme of magical holiday decorations: I present origami holiday lights. 

These are so lovely on a tree (or really anywhere for that matter--I had them strung in my studio year round for a long time). They are a huge family favorite at our house.  We even gave them as gifts one year and made them assembly line style with kids and grown ups folding away.  Once you get the hang of the folding process, it will go quickly. We got it down to folding a box in about a minute.

Origami Holiday Lights

You will need:

origami paper- the pastels prints look the best. Here is a good source.

string of mini-white lights - we have a string of 100-lights on our tree. You might want to do less if you are making them as gifts

You will need the pattern for the origami water balloon or water bomb.  This page has very clear directions.


Fold your papers in the water balloon shape--blow them up per instructions and insert each balloon over a white light (there is a small hole that will fit over the light).  You might find it easier to put the white lights on the tree and then put the balloons over the lights. If they get squashed, just blow them up again and smooth out the creases. We've had ours for 6 years or more and they're still going.

What holiday decorations are a favorite at your house?

How to make a magical, twiggy ceiling for the holidays

Many of you have asked me over on my facebook page how I created this twiggy ceiling for the holidays--so here goes.  It is not hard, but it would be helpful to have two people, at least on the cross braces. I did the rest by myself.

If you make one, please send me a photo and I will post them! You can email it or post on my facebook page.